Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
CON VUESTRA PERSEVERANCIA SALVAREIS VUESTRAS ALMAS
Hermanas y hermanos:
El cristiano no busca la exaltación del dolor sino el amor. Y la cruz es el signo por excelencia del amor. En efecto, muchas veces en nuestra vida nos encontramos ante casos que no podemos comprender, batallas interiores, injusticias, hombres explotados, marginados, niños inocentes asesinados por su propia madre en el aborto. Y entonces vienen esos terremotos en la fe. No es Dios que se aleja y se olvida del hombre, es Dios que le grita al oído.
1. Enrique era un joven sano, fuerte. No tenía más de 20 años y toda una vida por delante. A pesar de que su madre lo educó en la religión, el ambiente de la universidad lo fue alejando de Dios hasta perderle. Un día se sintió muy mal. Lo llevaron al hospital y le diagnosticaron cáncer en la sangre. En tres o cuatro meses abandonaría el mundo. Y así fueron pasando los días mientras el cáncer y la quimioterapia consumían su cuerpo.
Era Dios, el Dios olvidado de su niñez, que llegaba a tocar a su puerta. Enrique salió a su encuentro y en medio del dolor de su enfermedad se encontró con que realmente comenzaba a vivir. Ahora que la muerte estaba a la puerta descubría el sentido de la vida humana.
2. La vida del cristiano estará siempre marcada con el sello de la cruz. La cruz adquiere pleno sentido cuando por medio de ella se encuentra el camino de la resurrección y de la gloria. Decía C. S. Lewis que el dolor es el megáfono de Dios. No olvidemos que no hay vida sin muerte ni gozo sin dolor. Cuando encontramos largas las noches en nuestras penas es Cristo que nos pregunta, "Pedro ¿me amas más que éstos?"
3. No tengamos miedo cuando llegan las pruebas. Cristo viene en la barca atribulada, sólo que duerme. Ten la seguridad de que no estamos solos para encontrar en nosotros una esperanza contra toda esperanza. Y esta esperanza se debe traducir en una lucha constante y perseverante.
Las grandes cosas cuestan, incluso se pagan con sangre. Cuentan que en una ocasión santa Teresa de Jesús estaba pasando por circunstancias muy difíciles. Parecía que todo estaba contra ella y encima, al bajarse del carro en que iba, se fracturó una pierna. Y con el fogoso temperamento que la caracterizaba se encaró con Dios y le dijo: ¿Por qué me tratas así? y Dios le contestó: "Teresa, no te quejes que yo así trató a mis amigos". Y ella le dijo: "Por eso tenéis tan pocos".
Ser amigos de Dios cuesta, pero vale la pena. Haz la prueba y exclamarás como San Pablo: ¡Todo lo estimo por basura con tal de ganar a Cristo! Ojala al final de la vida puedas decir: "He corrido la carrera, he perseverado en la lucha, he conservado la fe. Ahora me espera la corona imperecedera".
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
WITH PERSEVERANCE YOU WILL SAVE YOUR SOULS
Sisters and brothers,
Christians don't try to exalt sorrow, but love. And the Cross is the sign of love par excellence. In fact quite often in our life we find ourselves facing situations we can't understand, interior battles, injustice, exploitation, marginalization, innocent children killed by their own mother through abortion. And it's like an earthquake to our faith. Because it's not like God is going away and forgetting about man; God is yelling in our ear.
1. Henry was a healthy, strong young man. He was no older than 20 and had his whole life ahead of him. Although his mother gave him a religious upbringing, the university environment started pulling him away from God until he abandoned him completely. One day he felt really bad. They took him to the hospital and diagnosed him with cancer in his blood. In three or four months he would no longer be in the world. And so as the days went by, the cancer and chemotherapy were eating away at his body.
It was God, the forgotten God of his childhood, that was knocking at the door. Enrique went out to meet him and in the midst of the pain and sickness he realized he was really just beginning to live. Now that death was at his door, he started learning the meaning of human life.
2. The life of a Christian will always be marked with the sign of the Cross. The cross finds its full meaning when it becomes the path to the Resurrection and glory. C.S. Lewis used to say that suffering is God's megaphone. Let us not forget that there is no life without death, nor joy without sorrow. During those long nights of suffering, Christ is asking us: "Peter, do you love me more than these?"
3. Let us not be afraid when we are faced with difficulties. Christ is in the ship on the stormy sea; but He is just asleep. Rest assured that we are not alone as we seek to hope against all hope. This hope must become a constant and persevering struggle.
Important things have their price, which is sometimes paid in blood. They say that once Saint Teresa of Avila was going through some difficult circumstances. It seemed like nothing was going her way, and on top of all that, she fractured her leg when getting down from the cart she was riding. And with the fiery temperament she was known for, she turned to God and told him, "Why do you treat me like this?" And God answered, "Teresa, don't complain; this is how I treat my friends." And she responded, "Well, no wonder you have so few!"
Being friends of God is not easy, but it's worth it. Try it, and you will exclaim like St. Paul, "I count everything as rubbish as long as I have Christ!" Hopefully at the end of your life you can say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. And now an eternal crown awaits me."